Road Marker Information
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Fisher Township, MN
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Degrees Lat Long: 47.8454869,-96.8499171
Country: Polk County
Where Found:
Located at the tourist information rest stop on US Highway 2 a couple of miles west of the village of Fisher. Note the green flag that states “Glacial Lake Agassiz Historical Marker”.
Marker Number:321
Marker Composition:
Text on Marker:
GLACIAL LAKE AGASSIZ
As the Wisconsin Glacier slowly began to melt some 12,000 years ago, it created Glacial Lake Agassiz, the largest known glacial lake in North America. At its maximum the lake covered an area of over 110,000 square miles—more than the area of the combined
Great Lakes—spread over parts of areas known today as Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. Over 400 feet deep in places it extended over 700 miles from its southern tip near Browns Valley to its northern tip near Hudson Bay.
While the glacier moved south during its advance, it built up a moraine on its southern end which ponded the melt waters when the ice began its retreat. Eventually the water overflowed, cutting an outlet which created the present Minnesota River valley. Over approximately 3,000 years, as the glacier continued to melt, numerous beaches were created along the lake’s shores. Still visible today, these beaches are named after towns such as Herman, Tintah, Norcross, and Campbell.
About 7,500 years ago, when the glacier had receded far enough north that the melt waters began to drain into Hudson Bay, Glacial Lake Agassiz disappeared. A few undrained depressions—Upper and Lower Red Lake, Lake of the Woods, and Lake Winnipeg—remain today to remind us of the site of the glacial lake. The area it covered in northwestern Minnesota is almost flat and lake less, and the rich land produces bountiful yields of wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, sunflowers, and other crops. Thanks to Glacial Lake Agassiz, the region is sometimes called “the breadbasket of the world.” 1989
Region: North Central/West Region
Information Needed:
- Verify Existance
Condition of Marker:
Do it Yourself Region: Northwest Corner